Scarborough Fair
by muffnbootz
Summary: 'You want to know my story? Why Byakuya and our captain assigned me to train you for this mission? You want me to talk to you? Fine. But, in exchange, I need you to do this one thing for me... please.' -IchiRuki, songfic-
1. Chapter 1

**Don't own Bleach, nor do I claim rights to the song Scarborough Fair. More info on this thing at the end of the chapter, because I know I hate scrolling through a wall of mass text to get to the story I actually wanted to read sometime today. ;) **

**(I'm messing with you.)**

* * *

><p>"This will hurt her."<p>

Captain Ukitake Juushiro shifts anxiously, his shihakusho and captain's haori whispering against the tatami floor in response. After a few moment's silence, he asks again. "Byakuya. Are you sure?"

In response, Captain Kuchiki Byakuya raises and elegant eyebrow.

Ukitake sighs. "Of course. Silly question. You Kuchikis are always deadly accurate…" He allows a slightly nervous laugh to slip out, but just as quickly, grows serious.

"This will help her in the end? How do you know this will not just do even more damage? And, I hadn't the least clue you approved of the boy."

Focusing on his cup of tea, Byakuya raises it to his lips and takes a sip. Placing it back down on its raised mat, he finally speaks.

"If she is the woman that I know her to be, then she will react accordingly."

Ukitake laughs at his fellow captain's tone – the tone of, "And I'm always right."

"Alright, Byakuya. I'll trust you."

Ukitake flips open his plain white fan, waving cool air towards his face, as the bamboo fountain right outside clacks in rhythmic time.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Are you going there? To where he lives? If so, do this for me. But, first, I must explain.<strong>_

_**(Prologue)**_

Rukia hurries, socked feet nearly mute against the bamboo wood floors. She's been summoned by Byakuya, and she will not make him wait any longer than he must.

Her summons was urgent, as detailed by her brother's messenger. Byakuya had simply sent him with the message that he requested her audience as soon as possible, and she was determined to wrap her mind around his sudden interest in her. Or, better put, more interest than usual.

She shoulders her small frame past other black clad members of her squad, weaving in and out from between people. Ignoring the looks of curiosity and annoyance, she yanks her sandals on one hop at a time, breaks into a sprint, and hurries on her toes through the main streets of Seirieiti, edging her way through narrow alleys and jumping over the random obstacles littering the back streets. Running the whole way, she cuts her usual arrival time almost in half. (This is recorded in her mind with pride, a smirk as outer evidence.) Slowing slightly with breath heaving, her legs give out into a trot at the spreading appearance of well kept gardens and organized groups of neatly dressed soul reapers – subtle signatures of her brother's captainhood.

She stops for a moment and doubles over, sucking in breath that rattles into heavy breathing. She tries to ignore the constant voiced concerns from members of the sixth squad surrounding her – frankly, she doesn't mind it, but she can do without being called 'princess'. They're the only squad of the Thirteen Court Guardians that call her that - by her brother's bidding, no doubt.

So she tells them that she's fine, feigning kindness, and fighting down irritation. They're slowing her down, and she will feel the blunt of any wasted time. Pulling her sandals back off, she jumps off of the threshold and onto her brother's neatly polished barrack floors. The process of noiseless sprinting continues as the hallways around her grow less populated and quieter. Aware of her brother's growing spiritual pressure, she slows, smoothing down her shihakusho, and tucks stray strands of hair back into place. With 'lady-like' steps, she approaches Byakuya's door, and takes a deep breath as she folds down to the floor. Quietly pushing it aside and head low, she meekly greets him with, "Byakuya, brother."

"Ah! Kuchiki-san!"

Eyes widening, she throws her head up to meet her captain's smiling face, contrasted strictly with her emotionless brother.

"Captain… Ukitake? What…?" Suddenly remembering protocol, and her brother's harsh judgment, she throws herself back down. "Brother. Captain Ukitake. I received a summons from one of the sixth squad's messenger men, and I have arrived to-"

A hand smacks down firmly onto the top of her small head. "Kuchiki-san. Stop with that stuffy protocol, and come in. Goodness, you're so strict."

She looks upward at the thirteenth guard captain, mouth slightly agape. "Stuffy… proto- wait, what? I'm just doi-"Not sure of what to say, she feels odd.

"Rukia, listen to your superior."

Her eyes grow wide at the sound of her brother's voice. "Uh… yes, Byakuya, brother." Her brother, ignoring protocol? Warning bells begin to quietly toll in her mind.

Rukia can hear her captain 'tch'ing in the corner, stifling a laugh. "So. Miss Kuchiki-san, we'll go right on ahead and skip the subtleties and jump into your assignment." Coughing slightly, he folds open a small fan and begins to wave cool air in his direction with a sigh.

"Assignment? I have an assignment?" She flinches at the sight of her brother's eyes rolling upward (as this was his way of visibly showing exasperation, even though she was one of the few that actually knew). Her captain smiles at her with a bit of sympathy – he understands the weight of her brother's disapproval dragging down Rukia's shoulders. He nods. "Yes, Rukia. And a very important one, at that."

Her eyebrows rise slightly. This meeting was going incredibly fast for an "important assignment". Also, importance required protocol – it was drilled into her head. But the strangest thing of all, she hadn't had an important assignment since-

She bites down on her bottom lip slightly. Her brother and captain notice. Ukitake sighs heavily.

"Look, Rukia, this may –"

"You are to train a young man, a fellow member of your squad, on the ways of the human world. He is to scout ahead of a fellow party of Soul Reapers hand selected from the Thirteen Court Guard squads focused on monitoring the recent spike in Hollow activity and to meter out the spiritual pressures of the particularly abnormal humans in Karakura Town. He will be working in a fake human body for the latter half of his assignment, and you must teach him what he must do to efficiently blend in for the three weeks he's there, as well as to make him aware of your mistakes to prevent him from making them again."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watches Captain Ukitake fumble with and nearly drop his fan. As for herself, she's not even sure if her heart's still beating.

She understood, now. They were trying to speed up the process, trying to tiptoe around something they knew would hurt her. They were assigning something to her that they knew would break her heart into two once again, and her hatred flamed suddenly and violently. How could they do so with such ease, nonchalantly tossing her emotions and choices aside? Why would they do something so harsh, so soon? How had her day gone from peaceful to excruciating in twenty seconds flat?

"Byakuya! A little compassionate tact, perhaps-"

"For what reason, may I ask? Did you not say yourself that we were to skip the subtleties, and to jump right in?" He stared back at his fellow captain, face unreadable as usual.

Ukitake glares. ("There was no need to be that cruel," he'll later tell Byakuya.)

The room grows quiet. Rukia continues to sit, showing no emotion, with stony determination. (Her hands are trembling, however.) The tension grows thick, and the sound of singing birds and the clacking of bamboo fountains float, muffled, but gently in the most contradictory of ways. They stay like this for a few moments.

Because, honestly, anything remotely related to that Winter in Karakura is a touchy subject for all of them.

Finally, Ukitake throws down his fan. "Enough! This is ridiculous!" He sighs. "Well. Yes. That's what you've been summoned and assigned to do, Kuchiki-san." His face softens. "We… well, we weren't sure… eh. You're the only who's had so much hands-on experience with the current-day humans, Rukia. We know that this… ah, what I'm trying to say-"

He's interrupted by Byakuya's irritated glare.

"Why?"

They both look at her.

"Why, me?" Her voice has grown soft. She fights to keep the tremble out. Her question is not directed towards the assignment at hand, but at every reason for her sudden pain.

"You have your orders, Rukia. The young man that you are to train, Kazunomiya Hisao, is to leave in a week. You are to begin your tutoring with him later today."

At this moment in time, she can barely hear what her brother is telling her – all she can really hear is the rushing in her mind. The rushing of memories, memories of the life that once was hers and memories of –

"Rukia."

She focuses on her brother.

"You are dismissed."

Bowing low, her face touching the ground, she pushes herself up onto her feet and backpedals. Closing the rice-paper and wood door, she runs, until far enough away that her captain and brother-in-law can't hear her heaving her insides out onto one of the horrid, well manicured lawns.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, i'm going to go right ahead and tell you that i'm pretty nervous about publishing this thing. But! It will be a short multi-chapter, probably five or six. It'll be based off of the old Celtic song Scarborough Fair, which is about a woman telling a friend about a man she loves in town... essentially. Don't want to give the whole plot away if you don't already knowwww. The different verses will come in starting next chapter, and everything will tie together by the end! <strong>

**Oh, and by the way, I totally pulled that dude's name out of my behind. Hisao means 'life story', and Kazunomiya was the name of an old Japanese princess from more than a century ago. I just so happened to look over and steal it from a book I have. :D**

**Anybody who reviews gets one free internet cookie.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hoo, boy. Here goes chapter two. To all who favorited, alerted, and reviewed, thank you! It made me happy. :)**

**(I own nothing.)  
><strong>

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><p>On the far left side of the Thirteenth Guard's training ground, said guard noisily cheers on the current spar happening between two fellow members. The surrounding area is in a ruckus – people are jumping, screaming, throwing in their advice and <em>obviously superior<em> defense strategies. Some mock, some call out names and others laugh as their confidence in whomever they placed a bet rises.

The noise and tension grows to an even greater height as one man forces the other down low to the ground, bamboo swords locked in a parry that becomes a push of strength and will. Finally, the loosing man's ankles twist, and as he falls to the ground, he becomes shamefully aware of the wooden sword tip in his face. The Thirteenth Guard crowd surrounding him roars! Laying his head down on the hard dirt, he lets a deep sigh pass through his lips as he catches the sight of an outstretched hand in his peripheral. "Eh. Hisao."

A warm chuckling reaches his ears as the shorter, sturdy Hisao reaches and grabs a hold of his friend's arm, yanking him up from the ground. "Eh, Yoshi. If you lay there and sulk, they'll tear you apart over meal tonight."

Yoshi only snorts. "I'll get ripped a new one, regardless."

"Yes, but let's try to make it as painless as possible."

With a grunt, the man straightens himself out, standing a little taller than Hisao. Sighing, he reaches over to scratch the back of his head. Nervously, his eyes shift. "Hey, you wanna go see if Mieko and Kiyoshi are busy? I'd rather leave here before all these freaks collect their bets and turn on me." As if a direct response, numerous calls of, "Pay up!" fly through the air.

"Can't. I'm meeting the captain here, remember? It's pretty much the only reason I came."

"So you didn't come to cheer me on, eh? Be a good friend?"

"Not really."

Yoshi throws him a disgusted look as Hisao only flashes his friend a showy, innocent smile. Pulling the cord out of his shoulder length hair, he lets it fall for a moment before he ties it back up into its dark rattail. "Hey, I look ok? Don't want to look like crap for the captain, yeah?"

"Beautiful, princess. And, speaking of the captain… "

Suddenly aware of the change of atmosphere, both Hisao and Yoshi turn and face the direction from which Captain Ukitake approaches. Almost instantly, the festivities calm and the members of their squad nod their heads and acknowledge their captain respectfully. Laughing, Ukitake calls out, "Hey! Now, what was going on, here?"

As some of the Thirteenth Squad rush to speak to their captains, Yoshi jabs Hisao in the side. "Hey, see who's standing next to the captain? Isn't that Kuchiki?"

"Huh? Hey, quit it-"Pushing his friend's elbow aside, he stretches up on his toes to look past heads. "Kuchiki? Kuchiki Rukia? Where'd you see-"

But after a few seconds of searching, he catches sight of her face, and suddenly observes the lost, depressive picture it is. Her eyes are hard. Inside, he feels a sort of natural concern for the little woman. Yoshi jabs him hard in the side again.

"Wha-! Ow, hey!"

"You saw?"

"Yeah." He stretches to look again. "Yeah, I saw."

* * *

><p>On weak feet, she makes her way to the training grounds behind the barracks of the thirteenth squad. She's cleaned herself up and washed her face; steeled her eyes and heart – this week will not be easy for her by any means, because even though it's been over a year, she feels lonelier with each passing day.<p>

(Even the most painful of orders must be followed.)

But she walks with another world on her mind – the places she saw, the things she could do. The people that she'd loved so dearly. But it wasn't that she couldn't live in that world anymore that hurt her – she didn't belong there in the first place. She'd always visit, anyway. It was the certain one that could no longer see her, and the _very fact_ that he could no longer see her, that made everything else obsolete. For what was the point to returning to a world when the center of it is no longer reachable?

Rukia did not like sulking. She hated it, as a matter of fact. She hated feeling so desperate, like now. But, oh, how it hurt to love someone who shouldn't belong in the deepest depth of your heart in the first place. How it hurt even more that he could no longer have eyes for her anymore in any sense. (You cannot explain to those who don't understand, and that made her all the more depressed.)

She shakes her head, and runs a hand through her black hair – _you will not lash out under any circumstance_, she tells herself. _You will be respectful. You will not drag people down with you. You will be strong. You will not wallow in self pity any longer._ And as a thought of Byakuya runs through her mind – the inevitable ringmaster behind all of this, no doubt – she says out loud, "You will try your freakin' hardest to forgive." She thinks darkly of him, growling in her mind at his ability to drudge up a year's worth of pain in less than a minute.

"Kuchiki-san?" Ukitake has stopped, and looks down at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Ah… nothing, captain. Just thinking out loud."

Her captain mumbles a response of sorts and continues on. Growing angry at her own emotional reactions throughout the day, she refuses to be bothered with anymore thoughts of her brother. So she switches her mind over to her 'student', Hisao.

Starting again at a slow strolling pace, she remembers all she can of the man. Well, maybe man was a bit of an overstatement – he was a bit younger than her, but decently mature from what she could place. He was kind, always trying to help in any way possible. Strong, as well as tactical. Good with his sword and decent in his kido. The perfect warrior, as she'd hear some say. She mentally snorts at the thought.

Rukia grows calm, as anger dissipates from her body in the form of a long sigh. So this won't be too horrible – it was just up to her to control herself.

* * *

><p><em>He still thinks about her. Waits for her.<em>

_And whenever he stares up at the night sky, he half expects her to materialize out of the dark blue and verbally assault him for some stupid thing he's done. But he would take that over what's now. He would take the playful smile that always came after the barrage and the glimmer behind dark irises then what he lives with now. _

_He misses her. But he also understands that certain things work in certain ways. So if he could just know if she was doing alright, and he could let her know the same, then his lifetime without her would be bearable. But these memories would have to do for now._

_-_**S **_c **a** _**r **_b_**_ o_ r **_o_**_ u_ g **_h_**_ F_ a **_i_**_ r_-**

He shifts back and forth on his feet.

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

Looking down at Rukia, he notices that her face has softened. A quiet breath escapes through his nostrils in relief. Nodding, he greets both her and his captain. She smiles slightly up at him as her captain exclaims loudly, "Ah! Kazunomiya-san, this is Kuchiki-san, your teacher in the ways of the World of the Living for the next week. Kuchiki-san!" Ukitake smiles down at Rukia, excitement lighting his eyes. "This is Kazunomiya-san, your student. He's a very intelligent young man that catches on fast, so you'll have no problem."

Smiling wider this time, she nods at Hisao. "Good to meet you. This will go just fine, I imagine."

"It will. Ah, and uh, nice to meet you, too, miss Kuchiki."

"Rukia."

He nods. "Hisao."

They both jump startlingly at the sudden loudness of their captain's clapping hands. "Well, Rukia, this won't be so hard now, will it?"

He instantly regrets his words as he watches her back stiffen. Hisao grows concerned again as he watches the pained look return to her eyes. She twists upward to respond with a rigid smile. "It will be just fine, captain."

As an apology of sorts, Ukitake places his hand on her Rukia's shoulder. "You'll make us proud. Have a good time. Maybe you'll become friends!" Awkwardly, he smiles down at her, and nods to Hisao as he turns on his heels as he hurries away.

(He's embarrassed.)

Hisao watches his captain rush away and turns his attention back to his tutor. She, too, is looking off into another direction, but glaring darkly.

"Ruk-"

"Well. I suppose we should get a move on, eh? Let's get out of this heat and move somewhere nice a shady, ok?" She had a disgustingly fake smile on her face.

"Ah. Sure." As she turns, he shakes his head and tries to figure out where to start with this woman.

_Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme._

They've been walking for a few minutes now. She glances back occasionally to check on his progress and emphasizes her care with a few crooked half smiles.

'_I'm failing horribly at this'_, she thinks to herself. _'Have to do something. Say something.' _"So..." Her voice is even as she turns herself around to face Hisao, walking backwards on her heels. "What made them consider you for this mission?"

He lifts his eyebrows. '_She finally decides to talk'._ "Oh. Well. I was at the top of my class in the academy, and… ah, well, I've always expressed an interest in investigating the World of the Living, though I'd rather stay away from Squad 12. They scare me." He emphasizes this with a noise imitating him shuddering.

She quietly laughs. "It's an interesting place, it is." She looks toward the north, into the middle of Seriteri, where the main senkaimon gate is located.

He bites his bottom lip. This is turning out to be slightly awkward. (He was normally very good with meeting new people.)

"So. I heard you're friends with people there?" Of course he had. Everybody had. Everybody knew of the former Substitute Death God and the other humans that trailed behind him.

_Remember me to one who lives there -_

She slows a little bit. "Mhm."

He wonders. Rukia is not someone he knows personally – simply, a girl in his squad, and the adopted sister of Kuchiki Byakuya. She was also the one responsible for giving human death god powers, which lead, ultimately, to the seal and imprisonment of Sosuke Aizen.

So, basically, she indirectly helped save the world, in a sense. He respected her. But he doesn't understand why she's acting so edgy right now.

He also would like to know where they're going, considering that they've been 'walking to find some shade' for almost half an hour now.

"Um. Rukia-san."

She stops and looks back at him.

"Are we… stopping anytime soon?"

She slaps her hand to the top of her head and shakes it. "Oi, yeah. Sorry, sorry. My mind got carried away. Uh. Let's sit… over there. Under those trees."

And as they move to the trees, he evens his pace with her and bends down to get closer to her face. "Oi?" Hisao grins with a raised brow.

"Ah! Oh, yeah. Ha. Just one of those things you pick up in the World of the Living." She forces her own grin.

"Those friends, huh? Ha, do they all say that?"

He's suddenly taken back as she spins to face him, eyes alight with fire. "What if they do?"

He places his hand up in front of him, flat, as a defensive apology. She rolls her head back and crosses her arms, turning back around. "Sorry."

Hisao leans back against one of the trees. "And, suddenly, I feel as if this assignment wasn't really a choice for you." _'Maybe her time with the humans didn't end so well.'_

Her only response is her shifting body.

"The glorious Winter War wasn't as glorious as they said it was, huh?"

Rukia shakes her head. "And, look at me. I've barely spent fourty-five minutes with you and I've already failed to keep my emotions in check."

After a few minutes of silence, he finally speaks again. "Tell me… about it?"

She slowly turns to face him once again. "It's not like I really have a choice, you know. Everything I know about that world is inevitably connected with those people, so you're –" Suddenly, her eyes grow wide, and her arms fly to her sides, hand forming white-knuckled wrists. "That-! _That_-!"

_'She's friggin' bipolar!'_ "Eh?"

He watches as she throws her hands up with a loud snarl. "Ahhh, he knew! He knew! He knew and he's trying to do that indirect loving-brother crap again!"

Hisao backs away. "Alright, now I'm _really_ confused. What exactly is going on here?'

Rukia sinks down to the ground and lays her head in her hands. Groaning, she rolls it back and forth, and lifts it back up, fingers leaving a clinging trail down her face. "This must be a joke to you. Ah!"

"I would really just like to know what's going on. Is this really a professional student-teacher learning experience, or did I just get roped into some sappy-heartfelt quest to 'find yourself?'"

She stares at him with desperately sad eyes. "The latter, pretty much."

'Tch'ing loudly, Hisao drops to the ground. _'Well. This is totally not what I expected in the least bit.'_ "Alright. Well, whatever it is, I'm going to learn something anyways. So go ahead."

She glares at him with distrust in her eyes. "It can't be avoided. I understand what Byakuya has planned, now. I'll have to ask him to forgive me later for thinking such hateful things about him earlier. God, all this and I barely just learned your name fourty-five minutes ago."

She sighs. "I don't normally just out rightly trust people. Not in the least bit."

"Understandable."

She smiles, and frowns again, just as quickly. "But…"

"But?"

She stares at him again, through those same hard eyes she wore as she followed their captain to the training grounds. "You want to know my story? Why Byakuya and our captain assigned me to train you for this mission? You want me to talk to you? Fine. But, in exchange, I need you to do this one thing for me... please.'

_He once was a true love of mine._

* * *

><p><strong>Ah, yeah. Long chapter. The whole verse together is this:<strong>

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme._

_Remember me to one who lives there - _

_He once was a true love of mine._

**Yay! The story is a ton of fun to write. AWESOME PEOPLE LEAVE REVIEWS. Just saying.  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**So. It's been like... a little more than three months. Sorry. My life was momentarily devoured, but it's ok, now. Does this super long chapter make up for it? :D**

* * *

><p>The normally silent hallways shift with movement as Squad One guards swiftly throw themselves out of the way of the oncoming captains from the other twelve squads. They've all been called to an non-urgent captain's meeting, but important still – with great emphasis on the 'importance' part, as detailed by the First Squad's messengers. Some of the captains come without a word, and the others grumble the whole trip to the Captain's Commander's rooms.<br>These certain captains continue their complaining up to the Captain Commander's giant, ornately carved doors.  
>"Alright, now, everybody shut up. You all know how much the old man hates all this whining."<p>

And, like magic, all complaining ceases. Shunsui Kyoraku only smiles.

The large doors slowly fall open, and the captains file inward in two separate, single-filed lines. As the leader of each line stops at their appointed spot, they all turn inward, facing each other. Captain Yamamoto stands at the far end of the room, leaning on his ancient but secretly deadly gnarled wooden staff. He waits as his twelve captains quietly situate themselves. Then, clearing his throat, he begins.

"I imagine that you all have wondered why I've called you here suddenly, today. You usually always do."

A chuckle rises from somewhere in the middle of the room.

"Silence! The subject of this particular meeting may seem particularly strange to you; nevertheless, it is a once familiar one that must, once again, be brought back to the surface and back to our attention. Today, this meeting is about the former substitute death god, Kurosaki Ichigo, and the particular reimbursement and reawakening of his soul reaper powers."

The whole room went up into a clamor.

* * *

><p><em>Tell him to make me a cambric shirt,<br>_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,_

_Without a seam or needle work,_

_Then he'll be a true love of mine_.

**_He was perfect… he could achieve the impossible… that's why…_**

* * *

><p>"Meet me at the drinking house near south gate", she'd said. "We can talk there."<p>

Well, alright. She was interesting enough, and he could understand her need for privacy. Crap, he couldn't help but feel bad for her, forced to spill out things that had certainly sat and broiled inside of her gut for a long time, now. "It's probably a good thing, her talking, if you put it like that…" Hisao mumbled to himself, not noticing the strange looks fellow bar hoppers had thrown him as he stood in line, waiting to be admitted. It was a full house, tonight. Mostly men, from the looks of it. No doubt they were here to catch an eyeful of the habitual drunk, Matsumoto Rangiku – rumor had it that this particular drinking house was her frequent haunt, and she'd already let her breasts hang low enough when she was sober.

Actually, Hisao wasn't much of a drinker himself, let alone a bar hopper – this whole situation was starting to give him a headache. The sudden facepalm was almost an inevitable consequence."Join the squads, become a drama magnet. A girl magnet? Oh, no, in fact –"

"Hisao?"

Throwing his hand down, he turned quickly to his right, and watched as his assumed teacher wanderd her way up to him. She stared upward at him, her blue-black eyes glittering slightly in the paper lantern-light. "Good! You were even earlier than me. A good sign! I know I could trust you!"

Lifting an eyebrow, he places a hand on her tiny shoulder. "Still trying to convince yourself?"

Her overly-confident face suddenly drops like a rock. Pushing his hand off of her shoulder, she reforms her expression into a glare. "Oh, just shut up and let me shove in next to you." Jumping into line next to him, a loud series of grumbles rise from behind her.

"Hey! Hey, Kuchiki! Who the hell do you think you are, cutting line like that?"

Turning around at breakneck speed, Rukia's glare burns fierce. "Who the hell do you think YOU are, talking to me like thaMMFF-"

Clamping his hand firmly around, well, half of Rukia's face, he flashes the whole back of the line his most charming smile."Sorry, sorry, she's with me. Ahhh, sorry, she's a bit tired at… the… will you stop! Ah -! Kuchiki, look, it's our turn to go in!" Hisao quickly rushed into the drinking house, a muffled and kickingRukia tightly held in his arms. Once adequately in and out of the way, he drops her. Her fist meets his gut as punishment. Not that it was really meant to hurt him - too much. It was simply the shock of the blow being so close to below the belt that rendered him speechless. Sighing, she takes his arm.

'C'mon, you big baby."

Rukia led him to a table in the far corner of the drinking house, far enough away from the ruckus caused by, sure enough, the Tenth Squad's vice captain. Still a bit irritated from her recent blow, Hisao threw himself down onto the floor cushion, leaning his left arm on his knee and placing his chin onto his open palm. Looking up, he saw his small mentor shake her head toward Rangiku's direction, a small smile on her lips and a soft, friendly tenderness in her eyes.

"Friends?"

"Hm? Oh. Just comrades."

"Liar."

Glaring at Hisao, Rukia moved to settle herself down onto her cousin, tucking her legs under the short floor table's cloth. "Sorry about the line earlier. I know that man from… past times at the academy. We've never agreed with each other."  
>Hisao only sighed. Pulling the cord out of his dark, shoulder length hair, he starts to re-tie it back up. (He doesn't know what to say, at this point. It makes him nervous.)<p>

An awkward silence stretched out between the two of them. As time passed, a waitress stopped by their table and left a jar of sake and two small drinking cups; Hisao noded at her, as Rukia kept her eyes down, focused on the dark blue sake cup. Talking to the maid for a few minutes to break silence, he also keeps a side glance on Rukia – she's visibly shrinking, her shoulder's slumping, as if a long while of suppressed feelings are finally crashing down on her. Now is the time to end this, he thinks. He can't stand feeling bad for her anymore – depression just didn't look good on her.

He thanked their waitress and sent her away, turning back around to face his supposed teacher, and leans forward on his elbows resting on his crossed legs. "Hey."

Rukia looked up.

"I think it's about time you speak. I've got things to do and not much time to figure out how it all works, but more importantly, I think it's about time for you to lighten the burden."

She sighs.  
>"He was perfect."<br>"He?"  
>"Ichi-" She stops, for a minute. Sighing again, she allows a slight smile to creep across her lips. "Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm sure you've heard of him."<br>"I'm sure the entirety of the Soul Society has."  
>Rukia nodded slowly. "He could do the impossible. So naïve, so immature, so short-fused, and yet… more powerful and wise beyond his mortal years. I'd never seen anything like it."<br>"Mhm."

After taking another moment to collect her thoughts, she begins again. "Oh. Um, take note, special humans can feel reiatsu. The more intelligent ones can determine what you are and who you work by the magnitude of it… most of the time."

She rolls her eyes, but her smile grows a little wider. _There we go_, Hisao thinks to himself.

"Anyways, he's still a boy, in human years. Ichigo, that is. He should be… almost seventeen, now." A little sadness flooded into her eyes. She amazes Hisao with her sudden myriad of emotions. She'd always seemed so disconnected normally, living well up to her family name. "Anyway, the boy's own spiritual power was so great that it would wake dormant reiatsu in other special humans, as well as magnify those of spiritual beings. It was also a bit of a nuisance, because his hot-headed fool temper always enraged hollow from a freakin' fifty miles away and set them on us, like white on rice."

"White on rice? Ahaha, I've never heard that one before!"

Her eyebrows shot upward, a scowl in her voice. "Oh, just you wait. Your own vocabulary will be corrupted after enough time on the other side."

He continued to laugh.

She leaned a little forward. _A good sign_, Hisao notes. He's glad that she's growing more comfortable with him. Rukia shook her head.

"Anyways, there's not much to tell you. You just kind of pick it all up on your own. It's an expose and adapt sort of thing. Don't be a fool; remember your training and common sense. Are they putting you in a fake body? There wouldn't be any other reason for you to know most of these things, otherwise."

"Yes, they are. They want me to get as close as possible to the humans in question, to monitor and gauge their spiritual growths. You're quite the observant one."

Hisao watched as the stress lines around Rukia's mouth tightened and as her eyes cloud dark.

_Jealousy?_

"Ahhhh…" Her head bobs up and down, slowly, with a look that could kill on her face.

A growl rises in his throat as, almost suddenly, his patience dropped to a sudden low. "You know what? I really hate being screwed around with. I expected to actually learn something, for, you know, maybe a little peace of mind? Instead, I get thrown into some petty woman's and our captain's drama, and frankly, it pisses me _off_."

Rukia's face snaps upwards, eyes as hard as stone meeting Hisao's directly. "Petty? _Petty_! How dare you call me… petty!"

"Well, it is! Do you plan on wallowing over some human brats for the rest of eternity!"

The sound of hand meeting flesh rings throughout the drinking house.

* * *

><p>Hisao leaned on a cool, outer wall. Thankfully, it was a warm, late summer night.<p>

Rukia, his would-be mentor, sits at the base of a tree across the way from him. She has her back turned. After the incident in the drinking house, she hadthrown herself up and stomped out. He had hurriedly paid the waitress and followed, his bigger size giving him an advantage to keeping up with her. To his relief, she'd finally stopped, and planted herself at the bottom of the large oak tree.

And, so, here they were. He'd decided to throw any hope of gaining any knowledge of the World of the Living out the theoretical window. He had a new mission, now.

Finally setting his pride aside, he sidled his way up beside her. She didn't look at him. "I apologize. That was uncalled for."

Still, she said nothing. So, he sat. "He was perfect? Just, him? Is this whole deal mainly about him?"

Her lip quivered. "I hate myself sometimes, you know. How..."

Sighing, Hisao laid his head back against the tree. "Just, tell me."

"Stupid Byakuya."

"Rukia!"

A small growl rose in her throat, but she held her peace. "Kurosaki Ichigo. Tall. Young. Angry. And, the brightest shock of orange hair I'd ever seen."  
>"I'd hated him, at first. <em>Hated<em> him. He was arrogant and foolish, but so sure of himself. In everything. He threw this unbreakable resolve into everything he did, into everything he believed, and a part of that was his incredible and almost reckless loyalty to anyone he'd trusted his heart to. That stupid resolve is what sucked me dry of my spiritual power and left me stranded in the World of the Living, working through those days with the realization of the many laws I'd broken hanging heavy on my mind. You are aware of that event, yes? Ok. However, it's that steely resolve that shone brightly in his eyes that had caused me to trust him in the first place. You see, that was the beginning. He had me from hello, and I didn't even know yet."

"I eventually warmed up to him. It was a bit inevitable, after spending so much time with him, and sleeping in his closet. Cooperating with him to survive day to day in that place. He still pissed me off, don't get me wrong, but that's what happens when you put two headstrong fools together. He screamed. I screamed. But he listened. That was what made him difference. He may have seemed foolish, but truth was, he wasn't, because he listened, willing to learn – fools don't do that."

"Eventually, over the short period of time I'd spent with him, he developed something towards me that I'd never seen him use with really anyone else – tenderness. He was still him, per se, but his playful blows came softer and his taunts came with a bit of a crooked smile. As a result, I became less abusive myself, and felt my own heart warm up to him. The dread I'd normally feel when I'd hear or saw him coming morphed into a hot, deep burning anxiousness – for every rare smile I'd receive, my heart would jump. I would become more nervous watching him take care of my Soul Reaper duties for me, and shrillness would rise in my voice whenever I'd berate him for going against my instructions that did or could potentially cause him to get hurt in any way."

"It's then I noticed. It's then I caught myself… for the time being. I knew better. I told myself to quit being a fool. It was also then I knew they were coming for me. The Soul Society had found me, and I'd had a debt to pay in the hardest of ways."

"I'd left a note. I prayed he wouldn't come, but stupid, idiot me – I knew better, but it was that stupid, recently developed, tiny little sprout of love I had for him that played on some feminine-sown hope of having my own knight in shining armor – he could do the impossible. He was already impossibly powerful for the little, little time I'd had with him. Somewhere, in the wild of my imagination, I'd hope he could drag me from the clutches of duty and responsibility and keep me with him, forever. For the rest of his life, and onto eternity."

"But logic can't be defeated. I knew that. My foolishness is what left him on that dirty sidewalk bleeding to death, dealing with his own emotions, and I'd walked through that senkaimon gate blinded by tears, haunted terribly by that fact that I had the blood of one more on my hands."

"But… logic. It can't be defeated. And if Ichigo lived a life that always defied logic, then logic itself would have no bounds against him. Because, against all odds, he came. He came for me. And the rest of that story, I assume you know. You see, he loved me too, but never out rightly admitted it, but I was ok with that for the time being. We weren't limited by human morality or sense boundaries… but, things went terribly wrong. "

"We'd worked, and worked, and by the time the end for us in his lifetime came, we couldn't look at each other without smiling wildly or laughing about something. I was happier than I'd felt in a long time – wildly happy. In love. He was so beautiful, everything about him. But, a part of his beauty – his duty, his loyalty, his utter need to protect – that's what took him away from me. What separated us. I will forever love him for it, but will also forever hate him for it, too. You know, that selfish part of me."

"It was wrong, anyway. But, he literally had to put everything he had to defeat that… to defeat Sasuke Aizen. To save us all. But, in the end, his power slowly disappeared. Spiritual cataracts clouded his eyes and deafened his ears. And then… we could no longer be with each other."

Hisao looked over at Rukia, and watched as small tears rolled down her face. "Byakuya and everyone else figured it out. They knew from the way I looked at him, spoke of him. So ever since the end of the Winter War, they've kept me over on this side, sheltering me from him. But it's infuriated me, and I can't help but think of him, and it's drained me."

"Sooo… they put you to this assignment, in hopes that you would vent and maybe become yourself again?"

"Pretty much." Furiously wiping her eyes, Rukia turned around to face Hisao. "But there's more to it, too, and this is where you come in."

"Ah-"

"Don't give me that scared look. Trust me, this is Ukitake and Brother's doing. They know full well what's going to happen. Besides, it'll blend in nicely with your actual assignment." Rukia threw her head back, and laughed. "Oh, Byakuya brother, I guess you really do give a crap."

Sighing heavily, Hisao runs a hand through his hair. "Has anyone told you that you're freakishly bipolar? And horridly observant?"

Grinning, Rukia scoots closer. "Look. I'm not going to make you do anything. But I would be so very grateful, you know. Regardless of what you pick, I'll do everything in my power to make the rest of this week as professional as possible."

Craning his neck to look her directly in the face, he only smiles. "I think this has caused too much trouble for me not to help. Come on, it's getting late."

"Hey, Hisao?"

"Hm?"

"Sorry for hitting you earlier."

He only laughs.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

><p><strong>So. What you think? Man, i'm tired. Reviews make me feel all warm and fussy inside, you know :3<strong>** Btw. I'm not doing all the verses, just the ones most commonly sung in the common abridged versions of the song. Yay, laziness!**_  
><em>


	4. Chapter 4

**Three month chapter breaks ftw. No, not really.**

**ANYWAY. This is where I wanted to get at this whole time :D **

**But, i'd like to say, if you've taken the time to read this, please leave some sort of feedback. It's more lovely than you think.**

**(OH AND another song that would actually go great with this story is Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine. Amazing song is amazing.)**

* * *

><p>She laid silently in the dark, using only the bottom half of her bedroll. Her top covers had been abandoned long ago, earlier that morning, as well as the top half of her night robes. Any hope of sleep that night had long been forgotten.<p>

Today was the day.

Breathing in the smell of skin and wood floor polish, Rukia stared out into the open rice-paper door and observed quietly as moths infested the glowing lantern hanging out on the breezeway. A slight summer breeze rolled into the barrack room, and she closed her eyes tight, shivering as the overbearing humidity sheened into a cold sweat over her body. The tips of her hair stuck to the bottom of her jaw line.

She waits, and continues to accept the several quiet breathing rhythms around her philosophically. Her rest will come later. As for now, she expects someone – her heavy rope, her savior into a new mental chapter of her life. Unaware of the time, she slowly closed her eyes, and replayed the week's events over again in her exhausted mind.

* * *

><p>Rukia had sat, quietly, across the low floor table from her brother in law. The afternoon before the send off, he'd requested that she'd brief him on her current position with Hisao. She couldn't help the overbearing feeling of his tough, demanding love whenever she'd think of him in connection with her new friend and current student, but she'd come to accept that perhaps tough love was better than none… especially since it was the stiff, apathetic Kuchiki Byakuya to consider.<p>

It had been all very typical, as expected.

He was healthy. He was intelligent. He'd been well versed on the ways of the World of the Living. He was quite capable.

But, as she'd predicted, the conversations had always fallen onto another subject – her.

Through dark blue eyes, she'd watched quietly, picking up on mental ques and observing whatever slight physical hint Byakuya might give away, helping her set up her next emotional block. She would make this as procedural as possible; she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of assuming he knew and could predict everything about her.

Discussing things had always been difficult with her brother. It always left her tired; her head either emptied, of full enough to explode. They could never discuss things like normal people; not one word said between the two was without a thousand different leads and meanings.  
>She had continued to observe, waiting for him to finish his tea, careful not to let her face fall into a glare. She was anxious, and it'd been difficult to hold in.<p>

"Rukia."

Her eyebrows had shot up in response. "Yes, brother?"

"Perhaps it would be best if you stayed in your rooms here tonight, in the Kuchiki house."

Alarm had shot throughout her limbs, but she allowed no show of it. "Why so, brother?"

"If you are to see your student and the rest of his squad off in the morning, it would be best for you to be well rested."

"Yes. But, brother, I rest well enough in the barracks, with the other women of Squad Thirteen."

"With all the infernal racket? I imagine that there's some sort of noise going on through all times of the night."

"Well, yes, brother. But, as you would imagine, I am quite used to it by now."

She would have to win this argument. Too much had been suddenly hanging by a string.

"Rukia, why are you arguing with me?"

_Control. Resist, now. _"Forgive me, brother. I mean no such impertinence."

He had said nothing for a few moments afterward, only watching her with a half-lidded gaze, and despite her best efforts to not too, she'd shifted uncomfortably. Running his finger around the lip of his tea cup, he'd finally broken the silence with a sigh. "Very well. Rest where you may, tonight. Though I believe that you'd find more rest here, with all the excitement."

The relief had almost been enough to knock her over. "Ah. Thank you, brother." She'd smiled internally, grateful that her plans with Hisao later that night hadn't been ruined. But she'd shoved them into the back of her mind, to prevent any visual giveaway on her face…

Byakuya had continued to talk, but…

_So close, so close…_

* * *

><p>Rukia's eyelids flew open. Her honed senses had picked up a slight sound of footsteps, and in drowsy disorientation, she slowly lifted herself up on her elbows. After slipping the top part of her sleeping robes back over her thin arms and tying them off to cover her bare chest, she sat up in silence, and used the formerly discarded blanket behind her to mop the sweat from her face. Over on the far side of the room, she'd heard an almost inaudible "Rukia?"<p>

Smiling ear to ear, she swiftly stood to her feet, and like a small ghost, soundlessly tip toed over the many sleeping bodies. When she'd reached the door, the moonlight had spilled over her, igniting her pale body and white robe in a silver glow. Her once dull eyes glimmered with renewed hope.

"Hisao!" she exclaimed, quietly. "You made it!"

Hisao, suddenly aware that he'd wandered past her barrack door, turned around. But as he turned to acknowledge her, his normally placid expression had widened into slight shock.

"Rukia! Your… hair!"

Gaping, he took in the sight in front of him – the petite woman had chopped her formally shoulder length hair down to her jaw line. As he stared, a nervous triumphant grin formed across her face, and she ran her fingers through her self-made pixie cut. It framed her face differently, and freshened her look a bit – albeit for the stubborn piece that always fell back into place, right in between her eyes. Hisao lifted a single eyebrow.

"Like it?"

"Well, it's… different. But, ah, I mean, it's not bad. It actually looks quite nice. But, uh, that bit right there…" He pointed to his nose, waving his finger around in a circle.

"Ah. That. I don't even try with that anymore." She rolled her eyes.

A sigh escaped through his nose, and he crossed his arms. "What about that brother of yours?"

She laughed at his concern – he'd come to learn through many meetings with Byakuya throughout the week that he wasn't the most lenient of people with many things. "He'll live. Besides, I'll tell him that it was too damn hot. It's not exactly untrue. Now, come on, lord forbid any of these other women wake up and find you here." Instantly, she'd turned on her heels and quickly strolled farther down the hall.

"You have everything ready, I assume?"

"Of course I do. Down here, now, in the cabinets."

Slowing her pace, she stopped at a sliding door a minute or two away from the sleeping quarters. Gingerly, she pushed it aside, and slipped in after allowing Hisao to first pass. Closing it behind her, she signaled for him to wait, and disappeared into the darkness. Time seemed to slow, suddenly – he felt as if he were staring into darkness for hours.

But, a few moments later, she reappeared, a delicately decorated bundle in her hands.

"Come."

Slipping back out into the open hall, they ghosted off into the dark.

* * *

><p><em>Tell him to find me an acre of land,<em>

_Parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme. _

_Between the salt water and sea strand,_

_Then he'll be a true love of mine. _

**_Existing in the beautiful in-between…_**

* * *

><p>"I apologize for all this secret late-night rendezvous silliness. It's just…"<p>

"They watch. I know."

She smiled. "Don't ever attach yourself to anything in the World of the Living. You'll find that your freedom will deteriorate into a simple formality. You never again live in one world or the other."

He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "But what's done is done."

Rukia nodded, and smiled up at Hisao – mischievousness glimmered in her eyes. "Some rules are meant to be broken." _Isn't that right, Ichigo?_

"Alright, let's see what you have here. It's almost sunrise, we both have to be back at morning roll soon."

"Right! Anyway…" Slowly, she handed the bundle into Hisao's hands. "In there is a letter, some pictures, and…" Taking his larger hands into her tiny ones, she worked his to open the bundle. In the middle of all its contents sat, tied with a deep red ribbon, the lock of cut hair that once sat at her shoulders. It looked as if she'd loped it off in one chop.

"My… one fear is that… well, we're made out of spirit particles, which he can't see. But, I just… "

"Chill, chick. I get it." He closed the bundle back, and hid it away in his sleeve pocket. "What's this kid look like, again?"

"Tall. Angry. Orange hair. Brown ey – WHY are you asking me? We went over this!"

Laughing, he rubbed the top of her head. "Messing, messing." Eyes softening, he crossed his arms. "Never one world or the other, huh?"

"Torn between two lives. Kind of sucks, at times."

"Mmmm… I won't judge that. But, Rukia –" Hisao looked over the top of her head, at the subtle orange of the coming sunset bleeding into the lightening sky. "We need to get back."

Rukia turned and looked for herself. Then, laughing, she launched herself at her new friend, hugging him tightly. He let his arms fall, awkwardly, and allowed then to rest lightly on her back. "It's nothing, girl. Really."

"Oh, just shut up. And… thank you."

* * *

><p>In the central heart of Seireiti, the grand senkaimon gate hummed with power. The captains of all thirteen squads, as well as the entire scouting squad and a handful of guards stood in front of the great wooden doors. They'd just finished an hour's worth of lecturing and speeches, and the time to cross through the Precipice World onto the other side had drawn extremely close.<p>

Hisao was nervous. This was his first trip back into the World of the Living since his death. (Not that he remembered his human life – it was both a blessing, and a curse.)

Excitement ran thick in the surrounding atmosphere, and many of his friends around him fought to stay still. The Captain Commander was still talking, but he'd tuned it out a long while ago. As he waited, his eyes wandered, and as they traveled to his left, he'd locked eyes with his mentor.

She was watching him intently, her now very short hair whipping mercilessly at her face in the afternoon wind. She stood positioned between her brother and their captain. He certainly had quite the mission cut out for him, now, and his heart weighed heavy with the burden of his new friend.

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

From many feet away, she smiled at him. The burden was heavy, yes, but watching another being regain a lost hope seemed to be one of the purest, most satisfying feelings he'd ever felt before.

_ If so, remember me to one who lives there. _

In the distance, someone yelled a command, and the giant gate to the World of the Living cracked, and in response, the wind picked up considerable speed. The sheer force blew his hair out of its cord, and he turned to face his destination as it began to dance furiously around his face. _I'll be back soon, Rukia. You don't have to do this alone anymore. I will find this man named Ichigo._

The senkaimon gate now stood completely open, and the squad started forward. The Soul Society faded away into the darkness that was the Precipice World.

_He once was a true love of mine. _

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><p><strong>From here on out, we'll be dealing with Hisao and Ichigo. Excited? I am. I plan to have a lot of fun with it :D<strong>

**Love you guys. Until next chapter.**_  
><em>


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